Feeling convicted

Last night, as I lay in bed, I was praying and thanking God for our wonderful Christmas & how blessed we are. I started to thank him for the gift of His Son, Jesus, when I got really convicted about something... never, not once, during our entire Christmas celebration did we even mention Jesus' name. Although I want Jonathan to have the experience of believing in Santa Claus, most importantly I want to make sure that he knows the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Every year we talk about how Christmas has become too commercial, yet we fall into the trap ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I love getting together with family & friends to exchange gifts & enjoy each other's company, I love the decorations, the movies, the music... everything "commercial" about the season. However, I really feel like I need to make more of an effort next year to bring Jesus' birth into the forefront of our celebrations. I'd love to start the tradition of reading the Christmas story from the Bible every year; in fact, because I know I tend to have grand ideas & then forget them, I'm going to put a note on the calendar. I just really felt convicted last night, and felt the need to put it out there.

On a lighter note, we were definitely blessed this year. We had such fun spending time with our families. Chris' family came over the evening of Christmas Eve. I had made chicken and dumplings (yum-o), mostly for Chris' mom, and they were quite good... if I do say so myself. After dinner we moved to the living room to open gifts. Jonathan racked up! Not to mention all of the goodies he got on Christmas day from my family. I'm seriously considering putting some of his toys up in the attic & switching them out come summer. That way they'll be like all new toys. And it will make more room in his playroom. It looks like a toy store in there! My parents came over yesterday & I made chicken and dumlings again. While I love me some chicken and dumplings, I think I'll be okay if we don't have them for a while.

Oh, and I had my weekly weigh in today. I gained .4 pounds... not too shabby considering the holiday & all. I'm really going to be diligent this week so it doesn't catch up to me. I actually didn't do too bad considering. Thankfully I'm not really a dessert person, but I am a bread person. I have to admit I went a little overboard on the rolls both Monday & Tuesday. I mean, when they're sitting right in front of you... what's a girl to do?

Wow, this turned out to be really long. Now it's really late and I need to get to bed. 'Night!

Just a couple...

of pics from Christmas morning. I have plenty more to post, but hopefully these will tide you over.


He loves his little rocking horse!

Merry Christmas...

From our family to yours!

Santa? Yeah, not so much...

First of all, just because it's cute, here's Jonathan's Santa picture from last year. Can you believe how little he was? Where did my little baby go?

I had to go to the mall today to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping, so I thought we'd better get Jonathan's picture taken with Santa while we were there, otherwise we might miss our chance this year. As you can see, he was not at all impressed with sitting on this strange man's lap while Mommy walked a few feet away. He was fine while we just stood next to Santa; he laughed & played with him. But once I sat him on his lap & walked away... this is what happened. Poor kid.



In other news, I went to weigh in today... and lost 5.8 pounds!!! I was so happy. That puts my total weight loss so far at 10.2 pounds. I have my annual *ladies* visit tomorrow and I'll be glad to tell him I'm finally losing weight.

Well, Jonathan's getting bored of being cooped up in the office here with me, so I'd better get going...

Merry Christmas!!!

He looks so mischievous in this picture, doesn't he!?

Wow.... and thank you!

I signed up for a blogger Secret Santa that Jessica put together and today I recieved my gift! Tracy sent me this really cool digital photo album that's on a keychain. How cool is that!? I can't wait to get it set up & put pictures on it. What a great (and high tech) way to carry photos with you. As we all know, I have a ridiculous amount of pictures of Jonathan, so now I can carry some of them with me. Thanks Tracy!!!



Speaking of Jonathan... as I feared, it seems his being sick has screwed up his sleeping again. :o( As I type he's in his room crying, which I hate to let him do. I put him down at 10:45 ish and he slept for about 30-45 minutes & woke up. I changed his diaper, got him back to sleep & laid him back down. Of course he woke up as soon as I did that. I know he's fine, he's had his medicine and some Motrin. I don't know if I can handle it if he starts waking up several times a night again. He woke up last night around 2:00 something & it was 3:00 before I got him back in bed. I'm not sure what to do... any suggestions?

my poor bug

We just got back from the doctor a bit ago; my poor bug has an ear infection and possibly croup. He of course never coughed in front of the doctor, so we're not 100% on the croup, but she gave him a prescription for steroids to be on the safe side. She also gave him some antibiotics so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

I must admit, I'm a bit concerned that this will affect his sleeping. He's finally back to sleeping all night (with the exception of the last two), and the last time he got sick it screwed his sleeping all up. Last night he woke up around 2:30 coughing so I turned on the hot shower & sat in the bathroom with the door closed for about 10 minutes or so. I got him back down around 3:15 and he slept until about 8:00. He's napping now. I hate it when he doesn't feel good; I just wish there was more I could do for him.

Bedhead much?

Occasionally when Jonathan sleeps, he sweats. The following pictures are the aftermath of such a nap. His hair just cracks me up!



Well, my "not following the plan" caught up with me this week. I gained 2.8 pounds!!! I wasn't too surprised. I mean, you can't eat just whatever & expect to lose weight. Our meeting yesterday was about recommitting, and I needed that. I'm always amazed at how each week the meeting topic is just what I need to hear. My friend, Jennifer, that I go to the meetings with and I made a challenge for each other for this week; to write down everything we eat. That's been a huge help to me in the past; and I know it will continue to be.

Jonathan seems to be feeling a bit under the weather. I'm not sure if he's just teething, or if it's something else. I suppose it could be a combination of things. He's been kind of clingy & fussy the last several days and then today he started coughing. Occasionally when he takes a deep breath in it kind of makes a funny noise, so we may be headed to the doctor tomorrow. He also had a temperature of 102 this evening. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. I'm also wondering about an ear infection as he's been messing with his ears a little. Who knows, you never can tell with these little ones.

We were planning to go to an ornament making party tomorrow with the Gwinnett Area Mommies group; but I don't want to risk getting any of the other kids sick. So, unfortunately we're going to miss out on the fun. I've really been enjoying getting to know these ladies & their kids, so I'm bummed we're going to miss it.

We'll I'd better hit the sack. G'night!

busy, busy, busy

We've had a very busy weekend around here; but a great one.

Yesterday we finished putting up Christmas decorations, finally. I don't think I've ever waited so late to get the tree up. Thankfully Jonathan doesn't seem nearly as tempted as I thought he would. *knock on wood* While decorating I went through all of our Christmas stuff and we're sending a bunch of things to Goodwill. It's all stuff that we never put up, or don't like. It was just taking up space. Now I can start collecting more things that I *do* like & *will* use. One thing I still plan to do when we take the tree down is go through our ornaments & purge some of those too. I have a ridiculous amount of gingerbread man ornaments, so I'll definitely be getting rid of some of those. I'd really like to start collecting ornaments that mean something to us; something that represents an event from that year, or that family/friends have given us. That way, as we're decorating the tree, we can have memories for each ornament. Last year I made an ornament with Jonathan's picture, and I plan to do that each year from now on.

Our "Game Night Christmas" was last night with the Clavells & the Thompsons. I made chicken & dumplings; which were quite good if I do say so myself. After dinner & chatting we let the kids open their presents. (I have some pictures to post later.) Jonathan got 4 books; two of which play sounds/music. He thought they were quite fun! After presents the adults actually got to play a game!!! For the last several months since the youngest kids were born it's been increasingly more difficult for us to actually play any games. Our "game nights" usually are just "sit around talking & taking care of the kids" nights. Hopefully now that they're getting a little older & more "self entertained" we can get back to our games. We always have such a great time getting together no matter what. I am so thankful that we have these friends in our lives and that our children will grow up together.

Today was a very productive day:

~ went to church - still liking it pretty well, I think we'll go back again next week. Jonathan cried when we dropped him off at the nursery; he's never done that before. It was so hard to leave him, but we stood outside the door until he stopped crying. It only took a few minutes.
~ had lunch at our favorite restaurant
~ came home to pay bills & make grocery list
~ went grocery shopping & dropped them off at home
~ went to the mall to get a couple of Christmas gifts
~ went to Toys-R-Us to get one of Jonathan's gifts (I think this is the one)
~ went to Lowes to get another gift for Jonathan (I'm sure he'll love it! LOL)
~ stopped by Chris' parents house for a visit - Chris' mom had her first chemo treatment on Friday. Thank God she seems to be feeling pretty well considering.
~ came home

Phew, no wonder I'm so tired! It felt so good to get some things crossed off our list. Now we're done Christmas shopping except for each other. And I have no idea what I'm getting Chris yet. Apparently he's got a couple of things in mind for me... I can't wait to find out.

miracle of miracles

I went to Weight Watchers today and you'll never believe what happened! I lost 3.4 pounds!!! My jaw hit the floor when she told me that. I guess even though I haven't really been following the plan I must be making small changes somewhere. Just goes to show how much progress I could make if I actually *did* it right. So, that makes for a total weight loss so far of 7.2 pounds. Fantastic!

After WW we went to the playgroup at Barnes & Noble; it was so much fun! Jonathan had a great time playing with the other kids, and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with the other moms. I'm so glad that I stepped outside my comfort zone & went to the first playgroup. I know Jonathan will benefit greatly from the interaction with the other kids, and I will also from getting to know these ladies. They're all really great!

As usual, it's late and I need to get to bed. TTFN

Welcome Home, Dad

He's home! Can you believe it? It was just days ago that we were all worried that he was going to have brain damage or something; and now he's home... and back to his old self. I am so thankful for that. Jonathan and I went up to the hospital to see him today. It did my heart major good to see him up and about & acting like himself. Mom & I were trying to explain to him how serious it had been; but I'm not sure he believed us. Until the pulmonary doctor came in to give her *okay* for him to go home, and she told him that he'd been "near death". I think that got his attention. So, thanks again *and again* for all of your prayers. You'll never know how much we appreciate them.

Tomorrow I'm going to Weight Watchers, no matter the outcome. I chickened out last week & didn't weigh in. I've really been succumbing to stress eating over the last couple of weeks, but I'm aware of it now and can make changes. So, tomorrow is another day.

After WW, Jonathan and I are going to a playgroup at Barnes & Noble. I think there's a little play area in the children's section, so it should be fun. Then Friday we're going to a bible study at Letitia's (Pam's sister) house. I know it will be good for me to get together with these ladies and learn about God's Word. That's something that I've been looking for, and I'm thankful that they invited me. For some reason I was hesitant to agree to go, but I'm not sure what my deal is. Sometimes I just have a hard time stepping outside of my little box & trying new things. Not a quality that I'm particularly fond of but, again, something I can change.

Well, I'm super tired, so I'm off to bed. 'Night!

more good news

My dad appears to be getting better. Mom said he's groggy from the medicine, but his mental state is much better! Thank you, God! Yesterday afternoon Haley & I went in the room to visit him; at first he was still pretty disoriented. We stepped out for a minute while they put a tube down his throat for some medicine. When we went back in, I asked him if he knew my name and he said "Mistrola" which is a nickname he's called me for as long as I can remember. Then we asked who Haley was and he said "Nerd"; their nickname for each other. It was such a relief to realize that he knew who we were. After a couple of minutes he asked where Mom was & wanted me to go get her. Shortly after that he was given some medicine to rest so we all left. Mom & Haley called me later & said that he was doing even better still. The whole time he'd been in the hospital we'd been looking for the phone number of a good friend of his, but we couldn't find it anywhere. They asked him if he remembered Terry and he said, "Sure"; then they asked him if he knew his phone number & he rattled it off. So, I was able to call him last night & let him know what's going on. He went by & visited Dad today & it sounds like that really helped & encouraged Dad.

I'm so thankful that he seems to be getting better, and that his mind is coming back to normal. I can't imagine what life would be like without my dad, even if he was here physically but not mentally. Thankfully it seems I won't have to find out for a long time.

Thank you again to all of you who've been praying for us; I can't beging to tell you how much it means to me.